College football preview: UGA players take ranking in stride

ATHENS, GA. — For all the success the University of Georgia football program has enjoyed — two consensus national championships, 12 SEC titles and 713 victories — it comes as a surprise that the 2008 season is the first for the Bulldogs to start ranked No. 1.

The USA Today Coaches poll made it so with its rankings in July, putting rushing sensation Knowshon Moreno on the newspaper's cover and singing the praises of Mark Richt and company.

Associated Press fell in line Aug. 16 when it released its Top 25.

Yet for a team with such great expectations there is very little cockiness coming from the players.

Sure it's great to be top Dawgs, but being No. 1 with a 0-0 record doesn't quite carry the same weight as retaining that spot after 13 or 14 games.

"Every time you turn the TV on we're somewhere out there," said wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi. "We know we have high expectations for this year, but at the same time we know we can't achieve any of our goals if we don't come out and start from day one and practice and work hard."

In the modern era of college football, it's a rare team indeed that makes it through a season unscathed. Last year LSU became the first two-loss national champion of the modern era, setting a precedent for future schools that might have a couple of hiccups during the course of a long campaign.

"I think it will be tough," Moreno said. "Each and every week will be down to the wire. We definitely have to prepare for that, and that's what we're doing. We're just going to focus on one game at a time."

UGA coach Mark Richt did some politicking for his Bulldogs at the end of the 2007 regular season, trying to somehow convince BCS voters (and BCS computer monitors) to put his team in the national championship game. But the fact that Georgia didn't even win the SEC East title — and thus didn't play for a league title — sealed its fate.

Instead of playing for a crown, the Bulldogs had to make do with a 41-10 thrashing of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, which led to a No. 2 finish in the Associated Press poll and No. 3 spot in The USA Today Coaches final rankings.

According to quarterback Matthew Stafford, last season's finish and this year's start doesn't make much difference on the practice field.

"With the stuff that we can take care of and worry about there isn't any advantage or disadvantage about any ranking," he said. "As far as the BCS, the polls, how people vote or how far you fall, that's stuff we can't control. The stuff that we can control is on the field. When you get out on the field there are no rankings. It's just team vs. team."

And there are a lot of good teams the Bulldogs must tangle with in 2008.

Georgia is expected to roll over Football Championship Subdivision foe Georgia Southern this Saturday, and Central Michigan isn't expected to pull off an upset a week later.

But then Richt's charges must face South Carolina, Arizona State, Alabama and Tennessee before playing Vanderbilt on Oct. 18.

Then the Dawgs travel to LSU to take on the defending national champions Oct. 25, followed by Florida, Kentucky, Auburn and Georgia Tech.

Top ranking notwithstanding, making it through that slate without a loss or two will be a major achievement.

"All we can control is playing Georgia football," defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. "For us to be successful, we have to do the things we need to do to win games. Our defense has to be tough. We have to be unified; we have to play as one. We need to go out there like a bunch of wild dogs and get after it. This defense has a lot of talent and experience, and that goes a long way."

But can it take Georgia all the way?

"… It doesn't matter where you start as much as where you finish, but the coaches' poll is a poll that is part of the (BCS) decision making process to see who plays in the big game down the road, and there is a long road before we get to that point," Richt said. "It's nice to have a third of that group think highly of your program as you begin because as we all know, people usually get knocked around throughout the season."